(Closed) How early to look for a venue:

Hi ladies I am a NewBee and I have a question for all of you. My wedding date is June 28, 2014 and I have my church set but no venue. Should I be worried that I do not have my venue yet? I know I have a year and 8 month but I have gotten varying opinions on when to begin looking. What do you all think?

It depends on where you live on how soon to start looking for a venue. If you are in an area like California, I would start looking at least 18 mons in advance but if you are in a less demanding area, I would say 9-12 months in advance. It is good to go ahead and just slowly starting looking at venues in your area to help narrow down and price things and continue visualizing how you want your day to look.

@BlinginBride: I would go ahead and call the venues you are interested in and ask if they are starting to look into booking 2014 weddings. If they are, go ahead and visit. If they aren’t, I would wait at least around January. Also, now is the time to start going to bridal shows if you can and get a head start on meeting other vendors and seeing how they are. I went through 3 vendors each (3 caterers, 3 photographers, 3 venues… etc.) it was difficult for me. But going to shows helped me get a free venue and a free honeymoon. I also got to sample delicious cakes and food (and wine!). It’s a nice enjoyable time.

@lindseyl06: That’s great advice! I will have to look around to see when some bridal shows will be in the area. They sound like so much fun. I am really into all of this planning stuff so I would probably have a ball 🙂

Make sure you set a guest list and budget before you look at venues. Both of these should be pretty definite before you look seriously at a venue. There’s no sense looking at places that are too small or too expensive given your constraints.

It really depends on how in demand the venue you like is or if you’re open to multiple locations. I’m right outside Philly and getting married next September. When we started looking in July, some venues had a lot of booked dates for 2013, while others had a pretty open schedule. It’s all about demand.

I wanted to get married in the city, but we chose the burbs for family convenience, and I LOVE the venue we chose (Joseph Ambler Inn). There are A LOT of wonderful venues in this area, so have fun narrowing it down! We booked in July/August (I forget), so 13ish months before the wedding.

@BlinginBride: ooo baby I NEVER think its too early to start looking for a venue!

I think the more time you have to visualize and play with the ideas for the space, the better! So what I would recommend you doing is sort of writing up a guest list of how many people you think you may have and then take that number to looking at venues.

If you are thinking about having a small wedding, it might be helpful to start thinking outside the box about spaces for your reception.. like restaurants or quaint cafes or parks.

Its never to early to research and its so much fun so I would just start now! 😀

@BlinginBride: Where is your church located, you would want something close to your church? or it doesnt matter. I would start looking as the end of the year is close which means people will be getting engaged by the end of the year and you want your date set at your venue so no one can take it.